June bug bait



April 12, 1932. w. H. GRUENHAGEN JUNE BUG BAIT Filed Sept. 8, 1930INVENTOR M fFI E/V/IAG-EIY Mun/v ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 12,1932

PATENT orrlcr.

wnmmu a. (monument, or s'r. rum. ammo ma nue'nm y Application fled seamb'eia 1980. Serial 1 0 mm.

This invention relates to a bait, and par! ticularly to an artificialfish bait. It is desirable, in a bait or lure, to have means simulatinga live minnow, and for this purpose, various colors are used onartificial baits, the most commonly used combination being red andwhite. It is desirable, also, to have means for causing a flash of lightcaused by a rotating member as the bait moves through the water. It isalso desirable to have a bait which can be made at comparatively smallexpense, which is simple in construction; It is also a desideratum tohave a hook'device used with the bait more or less concealed.

It is an object of this invention, therefore, to provide a bait or lurecomprising a mem-i ber of general annular shape, from which depend ortrail a plurality of circumferentially spaced flexible tabs orstreamers, preferably of different color.

It is another object of the invention to pro vide a bait or lure havinga shank with a spoon mounted thereon, constructed and arranged to gyraterather than to rotate uniformly.

It is another object of the invention to provide a bait comprising ashank having a spoon device at its upper or further end, and an invertedcup shaped member below or in the rear of said spoon, said cup shapedmember having a plurality of tabs or streamers secured thereto, togetherwith a hook device carried between said tabs or streamers.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a bait or lurecomprising an inverted cup shaped member to which tabs or streamers areapplied, said member being of novel and eflicient construction.

It is further an object of the invention to provide a bait comprising ashank reversely bent to form an eye, and having a helix or wire springembracingv the shank and the reversely bent portion thereof.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a bait or lurecomprising a shank to whichthe line is attached, a spoon devicerotatably mounted on said shank, an inverted hook device secured tosaids ank and dis posed below said cup shaped member.

' These and other ob ects and advan of the invention will be fully setforth 1n the following description made in connection with theaccompanying drawings, in which like reference characters refer tosimilar parts throughout the several views, and in which Fig. 1 is aview in side elevation of the bait;

. Fig. 2 is bait;

Fig. 3 is a central vertical section through an element showing the samebefore the bait is completed;

Fig. 4 is an inverted plan view of said element showing the same beforethe same is completed;

Fig. 5 is used;

Fig. 6 is a central vertical section through the cup shaped member withthe guide means secured thereto;

Fig. 7 is 9. pers ective view of the cup shaped member an guide member,showing the same as they are placed in their final orm;

'Fig. 8 is avertical section taken on line 88 of Fig. 5; and

a plan view of the guide member Fig. 9 is a central vertical section atthe a central vertical section of the head or small ball 13 has adiametral opening through which shank 10 passes, said head resting ontop of the helix 12. A member 14 has an opening at its top through whichthe shank 10 passes, said member 14 resting on bead 13 so as to beeasily rotatable thereon about said shank. Member 14 is of inverted cupshape or of semi-elipsoidal shape. Member 14 has openings 14a formed inthe sides thereof, and

tongues 14?; are struck or punched from the sides of member 14. Tongues14?) are of substantially triangular shape, having points at their freeends, and these points 1 c are bent inwardly substantially at a rightangle as shown in Fi s. 3, 4 and 7 The lugs 14b are bent outwar ly anddownwardly against the lower annular portion of member 14 and the upperends of tabs or streamers 15 are secured between said tongues and thelower portion of member 14, the points 140 piercing these tabs orstreamers. It will be seen that member 14 comprises a lower annularportion with circumferentially spaced arms extending upwardly andinwardly therefrom, connected at their upper ends by means pierced bythe shank 10. The tabs or streamers 15 are somewhat fish shape, as shownin Figs. 1 and 2, having diverging tapering portions at their lowerends. The members 15 are formed of some easily flexible material, andwhile various materials may be used for this purpose, in practice thebait has been made with tabs or streamers of red and white flannel orfelt. The member 14 has a guide ring 16 for shank 10, and member 12secured therein, the same being shown as disposed substantially at thelower ed e of member 14. Member 16 as shown inTigs. 5 and 8 has acentral ring portion and arm 16a at each side thereof, the ends of whichare bent at right angles and secured to member 14 by soldering orwelding. An other ball or head 17 is pierced by the shank 10 anddisposed above member 14. An arm 18a is pierced by the shank 10-andrests on the ball 17 said arm being soldered or otherwise suitablysecured to the inner side of -a spoon member 18 which extends downwardlyand outwardly at one side of the shank 10. The spoon 18 is connected toa rounded conical member 186, the same being shown as integral with scon 18. Member 186 is substantially cylindrical at its lower side, andthe edge is scalloped as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The shank 10 passesthrough the top portion of member 186, and a hole through said member,and the hole through arm 18a are so arranged that conical member 18?) iseccentrically disposed on shank 10, or in other words, is more at oneside of said shank than rear 0 applicants the other. The hook deviceshown as a triple hook 19, is swingingly mounted in the loop 10?) at thelower end of shank 10.

In operation the bait will be drawn throu h the water by the lineattached to the swivel 1. The action of the water on spoon 18 causes thesame to revolve with the cone 18b. Owing to the eccentric mounting ofthe cone 186, the same and the spring 18 gyrate around'the shank 10instead of rotating uniformly. This gyration gives the agpearance oflateral vibration, or side to si e movement due to the fact that member18b is wider at one side than the other, which adds'greatly to the lureof the bait. In other words, the rotation about shank 10 is uneven. Thecone 18b acts to deflect weeds and grass and thus to form a paththerethrou h for the bait. The water passes over mem r 14 and will passthrough the openings 14a and through the inside of said member betweenthe streamers 15. The streamers 15 are vibrated or fluttered in thewater as the bait is drawn therethrou h, and member 14 can rotate on theshank 10 1f there is any tendency for it to rotate. The water passingthrough member 14'holds the streamers 15 substantially in the positionshown in the Fi s. 1 and 2. The hook 19 moves in the g or below themember 14 and between the streamers 15. The hook is thus largelyobscured as the bait is in operation, and when the fish strikes at thestreamers 15, he is practically sure to be caught on the hook. Themember 18 can be moved upwardly on shank 10, together with members 17 14and 13 so that spoon 12 can'be moved oli of the end of shank 10 and thehook 19 released from loop 10b. A single hook can be substituted for thehook 19 and the bait used as a June bug spinner, or as a bait spoon. Aminnow or frog would be placed on the single hook.

From the above description it is seen that applicant has provided asimple and efiicient bait or lure. The same can be made at comparativelysmall expense, and is also strong and durable. The same has been ampldemonstrated in actual practice and found to be very successful.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made inthe form, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts, withoutdeparting from the scope of invention, which, generally stated, consistsin a device capable of 'ca ing out the objects above set forth, in enovel parts and combinations of parts disclosed and defined in theappended claims.

What is claimed is 1. An artificial fish bait having in combination, ashank, a conical member eccentrically supported for rotation on saidshank,

a spoon carried at one side of said member,-

and a hook device supported on said shank. 2. An artificial fish baithaving in combinatlon, a conical member, a spoon carried nally of saidconical member at one side of said conical member, a member secured tosaid spoon through which said shank passes, said shank passinglongitudiat one side of the axis thereof.

3. An artificial fish bait having in combination, an annular memberhaving an opening of comparatively large area adjacent its peripherythrough which water can freely pass, and a plurality of flexible tabs orstreamers secured in circumferential relation to and depending from saidmember, between which water passes through said annular member to holdsaid streamers in separated position and a hook device below saidannular member.

4. Thestructure set forth in claim 3, a

- shank extending through said annular member, and a guide means forsaid shank carried by and enclosed by said annular member and spacedfrom the wall thereof, said hook device being swingingly secured to theend of said shank between said tabs or streamers.

5. An artificial fish bait having in combination, a shank,'a member ofsubstantially semi-ellipsoidal form mounted substantially axially onsaid shank, circumferentially spaced openings in the sides of saidmember, and a plurality of flexible tabs or streamers secured to thelower portion' of said member and depending therefrom, and a hook devicesupported by said shank.

6. The structure set forth in claim 5, said tabs or streamers beingsecured respectively below each of said openings.

7. An artificial fish bait having in combination, a shank, an invertedcup shaped member mounted substantially axially on said rod, the samehaving lugs struck up from its sides, and a plurality of tabs orstreamers secured to said member, said lu being bent to clamp said tabsor streamers etween the same and said member.

8. The structure set forth in claim 7, said lugs being pointed at theirfree ends and havthe bends thereof turned in slightly, said %s orstreamers being ierced by said points. 9. An artificial fish ait havingin combination, a shank, an inverted cup shaped member through the topof which said shank passes sai member-havingcircumferentially spacedopenings through its sides and having 1n ta secured at its edge aplurality. of circumfer entially arranged tabs or streamers secured tothe lower portion of said member and depending therefrom, and a hookdevice carried by said shank below said member.

10. An artificial fish bait having in combination, a shank having an eyeat its lower end, a hook device swingingly mounted in said eye, a sleevemember encircling said shank above said eye, a bead on said shanksupported by said sleeve, an inverted hollow cup shaped member mountedon said shank and supportedv on said bead, streamers carried by thelower edge of said cup shaped member, said cup-shaped member havingcomparatively large openings in its sides through which water may passto the inner side of said streamers, and means for securing a line atthe top of said shank.

11. The structure set forth in claim 10, and a .bead above and supportedby said cupshaped member, a cone shaped member having a spoon extendingoutwardly and downwardly at one side having an inwardly extending armthrough which said shank passes, supported on said last mentioned beadabove said inverted cu' shaped member for rotation on said shan thelower end of said spoon beinggi'sposed at the side of said cup-shapedmem r.

12. An artificial fish bait having in combination, a shank, an annularmember surrounding said shank, circumferenti'ally spaced arms extendingupwardly from said member, means to which the upper ends of said armsare connected, and through which said shank passes, and streamerscarried by said annular member. l 13. An artificial fish bait havin incombination, a ring, a shank passing su stantially axially through saidring, means carried by said ring above the same through which said shankpasses and by which said ring is supported on said shank, and aplurality of arcumferentiall arranged flexible tabs depending from sairing.

14. The structure set forth in claim 13, a guide means supported by saidring adjacent the center thereof embracing said shank and spaced fromthe wall of said rin 15. An artificial fish bait having in combination,a shank, a conical member having an aperture in its top through whichsaid shank passes; a spoon extending downwardly and outwardly from onesideof said member and having an arm extendin inwardly with an aperturetherein throng which said shank passes, said aperture being so disposedthat said 'cone is eccentrically. mounted on said shank whereby rotationof said cone simulates a lateral vibration thereof.

7 16. An artificial fish lure having in combination, an annular member,means extending from the periphery of said member upwardly and inwardlyand formin a supporting means for said member, therebeing openin betweensaid means for water to. ass free y through said annular member, a piurali of tabs or streamers secured to and depen 'ng from said annularmember, said tabs or streamers being maintained in separated connularmember, means on which said annular member is supported, and a hookdisposed ad acent said tabs.

WILLIAM H. GRUENHAGEP'.

'dition by the water passing through said an-

